Lacing.



No. 919,999. PATENTED MAY 9, 1906.

w. E. HAWS & G. w. HILL.

LAOING. APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1905.

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-wearing out the lower WILLIAM E. HAWS AND GEORGE W. HILL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LACING- Specification of I ette'rsPatent.

Patented May 8, 1906.

Application filed May 9,1905. Serial No. 259,584.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM E. HAWS and GEORGE W. HILL, citizens of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lacings, of which the follow- 1ng is a specification.

's invention appertains to novel means for securing parts together by lacing, and the invention is particularly designed for use upon shoes in order to connect the flaps of the shoe together in the customary manner.

As is well known, shoes are commonly provided upon the flaps thereof with suitable lace-engagingmembers in the form ofhooks or eyes, the hooks affording projecting mempers unsightly to a certain extent and often portions of trousers, dresses, and wearing-apparel coming into contact therewith, whereas the eyes used ordinarily on ladies shoes entirely are disadvantageous in requiring no small amount of time in threading the lace therethrough.

The essential feature of this invention resides in the provision of means whereby parts may be laced together so as to form a very neat connection between the said parts, obviating the use of projecting elements and doing away with the necessity for threading the lace through eyes, admitting of more quickly bringing the connected parts together and giving rise to other advantages of obvious import after consideration of the following description.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means for effecting the result reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation showing parts laced together in accordance with the invention, such parts representing the flaps of the shoe preferably. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the part provided with lace-engaging members comprised in the invention, bringing out more clearly the arrangement and manner of securing said members to the part to which they are ap lied. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the filling-strip, such as used between the plies of material commonly employed in forming a flap of a shoe, said strip being utilized tofacilitate the neat attachment of the larged transverse sectional lace-engaging members. Fig. 4 is an enon the line X X of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the lace-engaging members. of the lace-engaging member preferably used at the upper extremity of the flap adjacent which the knot of the lace is commonly made. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view on the line X X of Fig. 6.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

It is contemplated in carrying out the invention that the parts which are to be secured together by the lacing shall be provided with engaging members in the form of tubular bodies suitably secured thereto and having I the lacing passed therethrough, so as to work with perfect freedom to admit the parts connected to be drawn together uickly bymerely pulling upon the ends of the acing.

Specifically describing the invention, the numeral 1 designates the parts to be'secured together by the lacing 2, said parts com rising, preferably, as before mentioned, the aps of the shoe. It is customary to form the flaps of a shoe of plies of material, usually an outer ply 1 of leather and an inner ply 1 forming a lining therefor. One of the most important features of the invention resides in the arrangement of the lacing 2 with respect to the flaps or parts 1, whereby said lacing throughout its length is in substantially the same.

plane as the flaps 1, giving a very much neater effect than secured in the present methods of lacing shoes and reducing the wear upon the lacing to no small extent, since the latter is not exposed to the same extent as ordinarily. The above gives rise also to a more free manipulation of the lacing in the. actual use thereof.

The flaps or parts 1 of the shoe are each provided with bers arranged at intervals in the, length thereof, and these members preferably con' sist of curved tubes 3, secured to the flaps, each flap having oppositely-disposed-tubes or engaging members, through which the lacing is passed. The tubes 3 are preferably secured between the outer and inner plies 1? and l of the flaps 1, being housed or inclosed thereby, and each tube is provided at its ends view taken about Fig. 6 is a top plan view.

a plurality of engagmg 1nem-' with flanges 4, which are adapted to be bent about the plies of the flaps 1, so as to be engaged therewith to assist'in preventing displacement of the engaging members or tubes therefrom. Each of the tubes 3 is preferably somewhat enlarged at its ends, as shown at in order to increase the freedom or looseness of the play of the lace therethrough, and when the parts 3 are secured between the outer and inner plies composing the flaps 1 it ispreferably designed to use an interposed filling-strip 5, which is preferably of fabric or similar material and adapted to be stitched to the plies of each flap'ther'ebetween. The filling-strip 5 may be pressed or otherwise operated upon so as to form aplurality of curved recessed portions or'seatsfi at suitable intervals in the length thereof, and the tubes 3have the bodies thereof received orseated in the portions 6 of the filling-strip, so that said 'tubesvare about flush with the sides of this strip. In other words, the filling-strip 5 is employed in order that when the tubes 3 are disposed between the plies of the flaps 1 the attachment of the plies willnotcau'sethe bodies of the tubes to form'curvedprotuber ances, which would increase the unsightliness of the flaps in an obvious way. When the strips 5 are used, the attachment of the parts 3 is suchthat'their disposition b'etween'the pliesof the flaps 1 is wholly unnoticeable. The flanges iof the members 3 are of course firmly clamped or bent about the adjacent edges of the plies of each'flap, and this operation may of course be performed by a suitable machine devised for this purpose.

The uppermost of the engaging members 3 is {not cur'ved so much as the other of said members and is of apeculiar form inorder to provide means to positively grip the lacing after the same has been pulled upon to bring the flaps'tog'etherto prevent said lacing from slipping back; and loosening; The lower end of each of the uppermost members 3terminates at the inner edge of itsflapfwherea's the upper extremity terminates at the top of the flap instead of at the inner edge, as in the case of the lower members 3. The above is desirablein order that the upper ends of the may have a direct vertical pull pulling the lacing tobring the flaps together preparatory to making the'knot usually-provided, The uppermost of the members 3, which ar oftubular form of course, are each previded' in the tubular portion thereof with smll tongue '7, pivoted at one end,-as shownat 8,,to a sideof thetubing'an'd'having its other end movable between'two small ribsor'projections 9, forme upon the inner side of the tube upon which said {tongue is arr's ijn'ge xl. The tongue 7 is notfsufii'ciently widejte eXtend' entirely acrossth'e inner tubularfportion of thetube in whichit is arranged, but sufficient space is left for the lacing to play freely through the tube without touching said tongue. The tongue 7 of each tube 3 is flat, and a side edge thereof is cut away on an incline, as indicated at 10, so that when the ends of the lacing are pulled upon and brought together the same will be forced between the projections 9 and the adjacent end of the tongue, causing said tongue to firmly engage the ends as soon as the pull is relieved upon, and thereby automatically prevent the same from loosening after the flaps have been brought together.

From the foregoing it'will be noted that the parts 7 and 9 form a fastening means which will enable a knotto-be dispensed with if this be desiredyand in order to'release the end portion of the lacing from the tongues 7 it is onlynecessary to pullthesame outwardly from the space between the-tongue and the members 9 and the lacing will freely run through the engagingmembers 3 when the flaps are spread apart and admit of almost instantly removing theshoe from -'the foot. The lacing is never displaced from-the engaging members-"3 or'tubes through which it passes, as the end portions do not pull out of the shoes at the top when they areremoved. Should the knot formed the lacing become accidentally untied ,thefastening members 7 will not permit the lacing to become loose, as will be apparent.

It is to be understood that while the invention is designed especially for laced shoes it may be readily adapted to corsets, gloves, belts, and analogous articles utilizing alace as the fastening means. It is contemplated to employ any means for'fastening the 'lace when drawn taut. By'preference such fastening means is arranged the uppermost tube or lace-engaging-element, so as to be out of the way and outof sight.

Having thusde'scrib'edthe invention, what is claimed as new 'is 1. In a lace fasteningflhe combination of flaps, eachflap composed ofinnerandouter plies, a filling-strip between theplies-and having"portions recessed to form seats, curved tubesarrangedin the seats of the filling-s'trip between the inner and outer plies, and a lace-passed through said'tubes, as described.

2. In a lace fastening, the combination of spaced partslto be securedto'gether, a-lacing therefor, and tubular engaging-members at intervals the length of the spaced" parts and" having the lacing passed therethroug'h, certain of sa'id' engaging members being'provided with lacing engaging and holding devices interiorly thereof to prevent movement of the lacing through" the-tubular engaging members.

'3. In a lace-fastening, theco'mbinationof spaced parts to besecured together, alacing therefor, anddiibul'ar' engaging-members at intervals in the length of thes'p'aced parts and having the lacing passed therethrough,

certain of said'eng'aging' members being provided With lacing-engaging devices interiorly thereof, said lacing-engaging devices being composed of a movable tongue and cooperating projections adapted to engage portions of the lacing to prevent movement of the lacing through the tubular engaging members. 1

[L. s.] [L. s.] 

